digital-divide on S Anand

Simputer

Tue, 26 Nov 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Scientific American’s review of the Simputer.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle for the Simputer, though, is cost. Will people in developing countries be able to justify the expenditure of $250 on a device that may be helpful but is not essential?

via Kamat’s Potpourri

There is no point buying faster PCs

Tue, 01 Oct 2002 12:00:00 +0000

There’s no point buying faster PCs, since there aren’t many applications that need more computing power, says this NY Times article. via Scripting News

In the past, the bulk of PC sales came from replacements. I’ve seen PCs being replaced because they didn’t have enough RAM for Windows 3.1, or Windows NT ran too slow on them. Today, I’d rather spend the money on a digital video camera and an additional hard disk. My 1.6GHz processor is faster than I need anyway.

What I like best is that three years from now, I don’t need to feel embarrassed about owning an archaic 1.6GHz P4. It’s enough for me!

More on the Simputer

Tue, 25 Sep 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Delhi children learn computing by themselves

Wed, 29 Aug 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Just leave a computer connected to the Internet near the slums of Delhi, and it’s incredible what the children there do with it! (More at India: Hole in the Wall)

Changemakers.net

Mon, 18 Jun 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Changemakers.net is a journal/portal for social entrepreneurship. That is, people who’re changing society in a new way. Normally, I wouldn’t have given this a second thought, but the site appears so extensive, and the concept so intruiging, that I think it’s worth a browse. DigitalDivide.org is based on a similar theme, except for the Internet world.